Publisher: International Ice Hockey Federation, Editor-in-Chief: Jan-Ake Edvinsson Editors: Kimmo Leinonen and Szymon Szemberg, Layout: Szymon Szemberg, Photos: IIHF Archives, Jukka Rautio, City Press, Berlin

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3

Super Slovaks are on top of the World

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL

2002 Media All Star Team

Goalie: Maxim Sokolov, Russia

Defenseman: Richard Lintner, Slovakia

Defenseman: Thomas Rhodin, Sweden

Forward and MVP: Miroslav Satan, Slovakia

Forward: Niklas Hagman, Finland

Forward: Peter Bondra, Slovakia

Filc’s winning formula: team first, stars second It’s really very simple. You have to be happy for the Slovaks and coach Jan Filc. Two months after their adversity in Salt Lake City, they win their first ever IIHF World Championship gold medal in Sweden. They did it with great skill, wonderful individual players and a strong team concept.

their first game against Slovakia. In the future, we must be sure that we are doing the right thing for the national associations, the fans and our partners. We are sure that going back to two venues is the right thing and the 2003 tournament in Finland will be the last with three cities.

Slovakia showed that it is very difficult to beat a team when the stars work hard for the best of the group. It was very evident in their three last games. Canada led 2-0 for almost two periods against Slovakia in the quarter final before Bondra and the boys came back to score Photo: JUKKA RAUTIO three goals to win it. HUG OF JOY: Head coach Jan Filc and forward star Jozef Stumpel share this wonderful

As President of the IIHF, I am once again proud that we presented the World Championship as a grand celebration of the sport and that our fans once again proved that there are the best in the world. Not a single fan related incident was reported.

■■ I was also proud and touched by how the Swedish fans and the people in the streets of Gothenburg celebrated the Slovaks during their open moment following Slovakia’s 4-3 victory in the Gold Medal game against Russia. ■■ In the semi final, Sweden Stumpel and all the other star players committed to Filc’s team concept. cortege following the final game and was also 2-0 up on the Slovaks, when they were presented on the Championship, Olympics (bronze), U20 (gold) but tournament MVP, Miroslav Satan, tied it with main square, Gotaplatsen. It was an unforgettaand U18 (silver). 1.58 left in regulation and Slovakia went on to ble gesture of great sportsmanship to acknowwin the Game Winning Shot competition. This ledge and spontaneously celebrate a team from At the other end of the scale, newcomers was, by the way, the best game of the tournaanother country. Slovenia were a very nice surprise. To come in as ment. world championship rookies and to clearly win I would also like to thank the Swedish Ice the relegation round while playing entertaining In the final, Russia surprisingly tied it up five Hockey Association for an outstanding job and hockey is a very strong accomplishment. Slovenia minutes before the end, but the Slovaks were not also thank all the volunteers in Gothenburg, is living proof that the IIHF’s ambition to widen to be denied. At 58.20 Peter Bondra got the Jonkoping and Karlstad for their efforts. the base of international hockey works well. game and tournament winner. To perform your Without the 16 team format, the hockey world very best when the stakes are high and the presRené Fasel wouldn’t have been able to appreciate the sure is on - that is a sign of a truly great team. IIHF President improvement of the Slovenian game. You have to be happy for Team Russia too. It was their first world championship medal since the 1993 gold and they also proved that team oriented players are the key to success. This 2002 team was, talent-wise, nowhere near the team that Russia had in St. Petersburg two years ago. While the "All Star team" of 2000 finished 11th, this one took the silver. ■■ It is worth noting that Russia is the only country that has won a medal in each of the four major men's tournaments this season: the World

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■■ Personally, I am in favour of having 16 teams in the elite group of the IIHF World Championship. This issue, and also the playing format, were widely discussed during the championship and this is something that the IIHF will analyse very closely in the very near future. We realize and recognize the problem with the second stage of the championship where the fans are hesitant to commit themselves into buying tickets since they don’t know who will be playing whom. Something must be wrong when home team Sweden draws only 5,000 fans to

International Ice Hockey Federation Parkring 11, 8002 Zürich, Switzerland Phone: +41-1-289 86 00, Fax: +41-1-289 86 20 Internet: www.iihf.com E-mail: [email protected]

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL

Photo: JUKKA RAUTIO

NEXT GENERATION IS READY: Judging from this picture, Slovakia will be a hockey power for many years to come. Immediately after the final horn of the Gold Medal game this young Slovak fan jumped on the ice to grab a stick amid all debris of joy. Maybe it was his father’s stick that he took? The boy’s name is Peter Pucher Jr, son of world champion’s forward Peter Pucher Sr, who at this point had already joined the gold celebrations with the big boys at centre ice.

Exciting group matchups in Finland 2003 Here is the final seeding of teams for the 2003 IIHF Championships in Finland. Next year's tournament will run from April 26 to May 11. We can already see some Group A (Helsinki) intriguing match-ups Slovakia (1) taking shape. Group C Germany (8) might be dubbed the Ukraine (9) “Olympic Revenge Far East Qualifier Group,” for instance Canada will be eager to Group C (Turku) avenge its embarrassing Sweden (3) 5-2 loss to Sweden on Canada (6) February 15, 2002 in Salt Latvia (11) Lake City, while the Swedes will be even more Belarus (14) determined to blow Belarus out of the building after having suffered one of the great upsets in hockey history in the quarter-finals. It can also be noted that Sweden and Canada have not

played each other in World Championship competition since 1999 in Norway. Group D could be all about the “Comeback Kids.” In the Czech Republic and Group B (Tampere) Finland, we have the two Russia (2) teams that played one anotUSA (7) her in the finals of the 1999 Switzerland (10) and 2001 IIHF World Denmark (15) Championships, and both failed to capture a medal this Group D (Helsinki) year. The Finns will want to Finland (4) rectify that in front of their Czech Republic (5) home fans, while the Czechs Austria (12) would love to regain their Slovenia (13) crown so that they can defend it in Prague in 2004. And, of course, new rivalries will spring up in the course of the championships.

Lener replaces Augusta, Fleming joins Flyers as assistant coach Two major coach changes were announced following the World Championship in Sweden. Just a couple of days after the tournament, Josef Augusta was released as head coach of the Czech national team and on May 24 Augusta was replaced by Slavomir Lener, 47. On May 30, the Canadian Hockey Association announced that Wayne Fleming, the CHA's Vice-president and head coach of Canada's world championship teams was leaving the organization to accept the position of assistant coach with the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. Fleming's successor was not announced.

Slavomir Lener coached the Czech national teams already in the late 90s. He led the Czech Republic to two consecutive IIHF World Championship bronze medals in 1997 and 1998 and he was assistant coach when the Czechs claimed gold in 1996 in Vienna. Lener was also co-coach when Czech Republic won the gold medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. Slavomir Lener has been the European Pro Scout for the NHL's Florida Panthers since July 2001 after having spent three seasons as Panthers assistant coach.

Top 8 to play in the 2004 World Cup In the final stages of the world championship in Sweden, the IIHF held initial talks with NHL, the NHLPA and the participating teams regarding the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. The proposal is to hold the World Cup again in 2004. It will include the eight top countries (the USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Slovakia Russia, Sweden, Finland and Germany). The same eight countries took part in the inaugural 1996 World Cup of Hockey, where USA beat Canada in a best-of-three final. The tournament is scheduled to take place from August 31 to September 14. Four teams, Sweden, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic, will start in Europe. On the other side of the ocean will be Canada, the USA, Russia and Slovakia, with two quarter-final games played in Europe and the rest in North America. Teams will be ranked one through four, with the firstplace team playing the fourth and second playing third in Europe. The leading teams will then travel to North America to meet in the semifinals with the teams already playing there. Existing NHL rules will apply and games will be played on NHL-sized ice in this tournament organized by the NHLPA.

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June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL

325 - and Helminen is not done yet Raimo Helminen, 38, became the first hockey player to participate in six Olympic Winter Games when he took part in the Salt Lake City Olympics in February. But the Finnish stalwart was not yet finished rewriting the history books of international hokkey. Before the drop of the puck at the Finland-Russia game on May 4, Finnish veteran Raimo Helminen was honored by the IIHF for playing in his 321st

national team game, a new world record. IIHF President René Fasel presented the 38-yearold forward from Ilves Tampere with a commemorative silver plate as the large Finnish contingent in the crowd at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg cheered appreciatively. On the occasion, he was assisted by Kalervo Kummola, IIHF Council member and President of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association. “It was news over the last couple of days, maybe

Photo: JUKKA RAUTIO

MARATHON MAN: Raimo Helminen receives the silver plate from IIHF President René Fasel (right) and he was accompanied by Kalervo Kummola (left), proud president of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.

too much,” said Helminen. “Now it's over.” Raimo Helminen finished the tournament at 325 games. SILVERWARE: The “321” plate It will be a record which will stand for some years to come. No one among the top 23 on the list is still active.

Most international games 1. Raimo Helminen, Finland 325 2. Udo Kiessling, Germany 320 3. Jiri Holik, Czechoslovakia 319 4. Alexander Maltsev, URSS 316 5. Sergei Makarov, URSS 315 6. Dietmar Peters, GDR 315 7. Vyacheslav Fetisov, URSS 314 8. Alexei Kasatonov, URSS 299 9. Dieter Frenzel, GDR 296 10. Oldrich Machac, Czechosl. 293 11. Dieter Hegen, Germany 290 12. Vladimir Martinec, Czechosl. 289 13. Vladislav Tretiak, URSS 288 14. Valeri Kharlamov, URSS 287 15. Boris Michailov, URSS 282 15. Lasse Oksanen, Finland 282 15. Valeri Vasiliev, URSS 282 18. Vasili Pervukhin, URSS 280 19. Esa Peltonen, Finland 277 20. Vladimir Petrov, URSS 276 20. Vladimir Luchenko, URSS 276 21. Roland Peters, GDR 273 22. Jonas Bergqvist, Sweden 272 23. Frank Braun, GDR 270

Was this his last national team game? No one really knows. Raimo says that he has no intentions of retiring. On the contrary: “It would be nice to play in the next World Championship in Finland”, Raimo was quoted as saying to the Finnish media. And why not? In the semifinal loss against Russia, where Finland had a 4512 advantage in shots on goal, Helminen was Suomi’s best player. Helminen's statistics on the national team: 325 games, 52 goals, 152 assists, 204 points and 72 penalty minutes.

Sweden 2002 placed seventh on all time attendance list After the sold-out SlovakiaRussia Gold Medal game (11,591) the official tournament attendance total was 305,541. This means that the 2002 IIHF World Championship placed an all time seventh in the history of the tournament. Here are the top World Championships ever in terms of attendance: 1.Finland, 1997, 526,000 2.Germany, 2001, 407,542 3.Sweden, 1989, 388,563 4.Sweden, 1995, 325,571 5.Russia, 2000, 318,449 6.Finland, 1991, 310,627 7.Sweden, 2002, 305,541

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Photo: ROBERT BUSCHE, CITY PRESS BERLIN

HALL OF FAMERS: On May 3 in Gothenburg, eight new members were proudly inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in a ceremony conducted by IIHF President René Fasel. The inductees from left: Ernest Aljancic Sr (Slovenia), Vladmir Yurzinov (Russia), Nisse Nilsson (Sweden), Pat Marsh (Great Britain, receiving the the Paul Loicq Award), Ivan Hlinka (Czech Republic) and Matti Keinonen (Finland). Canada’s Gordon Renwick received his plate at a later occasion, while Peter Patton (Great Britain) and Thayer Tutt (USA) were awarded posthumously.

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL WE’RE BACK! Denmark (left) celebrate their promotion to the 2003 World Championship after beating Hungary 6-2, while Belarus’ Andrei Mezin is a little more relaxed after his team’s victory over France. After all, Mezin has been around for a while.

Belarus is back after one year - and Denmark after 54

Photos, Szekesfehervar and Eindhoven: CRAIG CAMPBELL, Hockey Hall of Fame

Super goalie Andrei Mezin and his Belarus, the surprise team of the Salt Lake City Olympics, are back in the elite group of the IIHF World Championship after a one year hiatus in division I, while Denmark has been waiting for this for 53 years.

Kalyuzhny and an empty netter from Vladimir Tsyplakov gave the favourites and 3-1 win and a place among the top 16 in Finland 2003. Goalie Andrei Mezin had preserved his form from Salt Lake City. He led all goaltenders with a 0.75 goal against average and 95.83 saves percentage.

Both division I groups were decided in the same fashion. In group A at Eindhoven, Netherlands, undefeated Belarus and France met on the last day in a direct promotion decider, while Denmark and surprising host Hungary met under exactly the same circumstances at Szekesfehervar, Hungary.

Belarus were also on top of individual scoring: Aleksei Kalyuzhny won the scoring title with 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points, while teammate Vladimir Tsyplakov was 9+9 for 18 points.

The game ended 6-2 and Denmark could celebrate an end to 53 years of mediocrity and frustration. Despite being chased from the ice, Levente Szuper still led all tournament goaltenders with an 1.61 goals against average and a save percentage of 94.17. Teammate Gabor Ocskay led all scorers with 4 goals and 5 assists for nine points in five games.

A capacity crowd of 3,500 eager Hungarians expected another miracle performance from their goaltender Levente Szuper, but it was not to be. The Danes had a 2-0 lead after only 5.56 when Lasse Degn and Bo

Belarus will find themselves in the same group as Sweden (!), Canada and Latvia in the 67th IIHF World Championship in Finland next year, while Denmark will go against Russia, USA and Switzerland.

France held a 1-0 lead against Belarus after a goal from Maurice Rozenthal but Andrei Rosolko, Aleksei

Nordby-Andersen scored, and midway through the game Szuper had enough. The Hungarian goalie left for the bench after Thomas Johnsen's 4-0.

Ederer is the new Deputy General Secretary

USA wins first ever junior gold

Hannes Ederer was introduced as the IIHF’s new Deputy General Secretary and Director of Administration to the IIHF Congress in Gothenburg on May 10, 2002.

It has been a long wait, but when it finally came it came in a splendid fashion. USA won its first ever world junior title when the young Americans defeated reigning champion Russia 3-1 in the final game of the IIHF World U18 Championship in Slovakia. Zach Parise scored the 3-1-goal 58 seconds before the end to give USA just the margin they needed to overtake Russia on goal Photo: JAN SUKUP difference. Czechs USA IS OKEY: Team captain Mark Stuart celegot the bronze. brates after emotional win against Russia.

of the IIHF's various world championships. Ederer has a degree in sport economics from the University of Bayreuth and has also worked with a German-based sports marketing agency, responsible for sponsorship and athlete relations. Hannes was also involved with the 1993 IIHF World Championship in Germany as Marketing Assistant.

Although the titles are new, Hannes, 38, is definitely no stranger to the IIHF family. In 1997, he was appointed to the position of IIHF Event Manager and has since then been mainly responsible for ensuring that organisers of all IIHF He resides in Zurich, tournaments fulfilled their Switzerland together with New position: Hannes Ederer his fiancé Konstanze obligations in setting up the events. Wiesend and he spends his summers in his native Germany. For the last five years Hannes has paid Hannes enjoys cycling and travelling in visits to virtually all cities and national his spare time and has recently picked associations who were organising any up golf.

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June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL

From zero to world cham Columnist Terry Jones reflects on what Slovakia had and Canada didn’t GOTHENBURG, Sweden -- If nothing else, Canada's couldn't-care condition created a great moment in hockey history, a great moment in the history of another nation. Everything considered, better they go crazy in the streets of Bratislava. Better that Slovakia celebrates something which means so much to the “other half” of the nation formerly known as Czechoslovakia. It could have been Canada. ■■ This was the same team the Canadians led 2-0 in the quarter-final of the 66th IIHF World Championships. If not for a goal with one second to play in the second period, if not for a penalty to Mike Comrie and a power-play goal in the third and, most emphatically, if not for 60 Canadians who turned down the call for a chance to become the first country to win an Olympic gold and a World Championship gold the same year... Peter Bondra's second goal of the game with 1:40 remaining in regulation time resulted in a 4-3 win for Slovakia, and gave them their first-ever IIHF World Championship. “I can't describe what this means in Slovakia,” said Miroslav Satan who won the tournament in scoring and was voted tournament MVP. “The people in Slovakia don't have much good news. This is the biggest and best news since we started our own country.” ■■ Slovakia began from the 'C' pool in 1994, one year after the country parted from the old Czechoslovakia. Not many people remember that Slovakia had to start from scratch by entering the lowest of IIHF World Championship pools in March 1994. Slovakia routed Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovenia but had to settle with ties against Ukraine and Kazakhstan and managed to squeeze by Belarus 2-1 to gain promotion to the B-pool, only by a whisker. A 19-year old coming star by the name of Miroslav Satan was the leading scorer in the tournament, getting seven goals in six games and adding one assist. Who would have thought then that eight years later Satan would be World Championship MVP and his team the IIHF World Champions? “This is not describable,” said Slovakia hockey boss Peter Stastny. “It means everything. I’m sure the whole country has erupted into a volcano of euphoria. It meant so much for our NHL stars to want to come here and create something magical.” ■■ I can’t comprehend what it must be like in Slovakia. But I know what it was like here in Gothenburg. Eight charter flights of Slovaks, who took ground transportation from Bratislava to Vienna and flew here for the final, were here for the gold-medal game, including president Rudolf Schuster, Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda and 40 government officials. They filled the streets with joy after filling half the seats in the Scandinavium Arena. But in a lot of places in Canada, this probably wasn’t news. How do you make a country care? It's a question officials, coaches and athletes ask on non-Olympic years when Canadian accomplishments internationally go virtually unnoticed. I never thought I'd ask it about hockey.

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WORLD BEATERS. Miroslav Satan (front row, in the middle) is one of two players remaining (defensem for this traditional championship team photo after defeating Russia 4-3 in the Gold Medal game. ■■ I came here mostly to cover the Oilers’ players. I was like any other Canadian. The Stanley Cup is everything. It’d be nice if the boys won, but if not, no big deal. I had never experienced this terrific tournament before. The Stanley Cup is still everything. But, hello hockey fans in Canada, this is not nothing.

the ice. There's a wonderfully festiv our great game here. I’ll never forget the Latvians, all 6,5 seys. Only 4,500 of them could get the other two thousand watched th tent outside the arena.

I’m sorry, this is worth winning.

I won’t forget the Germans either w 'Ole, Ole, Ole' song which went fro end. And I’ll never forget the Slova

I’ve taken my blinkers off. And it’s not just about what I’ve watched on

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL

mpions in nine years

Photo: JUKKA RAUTIO

man Radoslav Hecl is the other one) from the original 1994 Slovak team which started in the C-pool of the IIHF World Championship. Eight years later Team Slovakia could pose

ve atmosphere which exists around

500 of them, all wearing Latvian jertickets to the games in Karlstad. So he games on a big screen in the big

with their drum-pounding non-stop om the start of the game until its ks and the scene they created here,

right down to one single fan who ran out of gas in mid-afternoon, went to the sprawling park in the city centre, nailed his Slovakian jersey to a tree and took a nap. ■■ And I’ll never forget the Slovak players who, during the shootout semifinal against Sweden and again in the final minute of play in the Gold Medal Game, were all on the bench with their arms on each other’s shoulders. Most of all what I left here remembering was how the Canadian players who were here went home feeling that the players who turned

down Canada’s call cheated both them and their country. If they only had a couple of Bondras, Palffys, Stumpels and Satans to join the Smyths, Brewers, Comries, etc., Canada could have won. ■■ Only one team can win the Stanley Cup. If you can’t win that, why wouldn’t you want to win this? TERRY JONES Edmonton Sun

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June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PHOTO GALLERY

CROWN POWER: Andreas Johansson scores in Sweden’s 4-2 win over Finland in the qualifying round.

TRUE PATRIOT LOVE: They came by air, they came by bus and they came by car. And by the way things ended in Sweden, it was worth every penny. The Slovak fans virtually owned the place on the final day.

CROWDED HOUSE: Count them! Eight players from Finland and Russia managed to pose for this one.

Photos by: JUKKA RAUTIO

SATANIC PRECISION: Peter Bondra scores the 2-0 goal in the final game after a great behind-the-net pass from championship MVP Miroslav Satan.

RUSSIA IS BACK: Thanks to great goaltending by Maxim Sokolov (below) Russia could get by Finland in the semifinal (above) despite being heavily outplayed and outshot.

ONE FROM THE ROOF: Camera on top recorded this Janne Ojanen goal which was enough for a 1-0 win vs Russia in the qualifying round.

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GOLDEN GOALIE: Jan Lasak wants the whole world to know that Slovakia has top goaltending.

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 NEWS FROM IIHF SPORTS DEPARTMENT

Top international coaches entertained their peers in Gothenburg ■■ The International Ice Hockey Federation and Swedish Ice Hockey Association held the 2002 IIHF International Coaching Symposium in Gothenburg during this year’s world championship. The symposium was held at the Ullevi Stadium Conference Centre from May 2 to 5. One hundred and seventy six coaches from 19 nations took part in lecture sessions about many aspects of the sport of hockey. “Fair Play and Respect” and Practical Coaching where the main topics. The goal of the symposium was to target elite coaches from around the world to have them focus on practical coaching. Well-known international presenters shared information about coaching, leadership, strength training and on-ice strategies, as well as the future of international hockey. Throughout the symposium, all participants were involved in an extensive evaluation of the IIHF coaching symposium with the goal of improving it to make it more rewarding in the future. The symposium format included the lecture sessions, panel discussion and a dialogue conducted by a moderator. Among the presenters were former Swedish and Norwegian national team coach Leif Boork; current Swedish coach Hardy Nilsson; Lou Vairo, head coach of team USA; Dave King, former Canadian national team

coach and current Columbus Blue Jackets bench boss; George Kingston, current assistant coach of the Florida Panthers; Ludec Bukac, two times world championship gold medal winner and current hockey school consultant; Erkka Westerlund, director of degree programme in sport at the Institute of Vierumäki; Tomas Storm, consultant to the Detroit Red Wings; Ulf Nilsson, former player in the NHL and currently sales manager at Qbrick AB; Thomas Magnusson, goaltending consultant; Anders Melinder, manager and head coach of the Ice Hockey Gymnasium, Örnsköldsvik; Murray Costello, IIHF Council Member; and Dr. Mark Aubry, IIHF Chief Medical Officer. Also present were eight suppliers showcasing the latest in ice hockey equipment and technology, including Bauer Nike Hockey, Easton Sports Canada Ltd, The Hockey Company (CCM, Koho, Jofa, Heaton, Canadien, Titan), Polar Electro Oy, T'Blade, Newtest Oy, Stick with the Edge, and Maxx Hockey. The symposium was organized by the IIHF, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and operated by an organising committee in Gothenburg. The three-day symposium proved to be an enriching experience for all the participants. The 2003 Coaching Symposium will be held during next year's 2003 IIHF World Championship in Finland.

Photo: CITY PRESS BERLIN

COACHES UNITED: Top instructors from 19 countries make up this photo taken at the practise rink of the Scandinavium Arena.

Women’s championship structure upgraded At the 2002 IIHF Annual Congress, the IIHF Council proposed to the membership a structural change for the operation of the IIHF women's championship program that would begin next season. The proposal was designed to combat a number of issues facing the growth of development in the female category of our sport worldwide: · low interest in attracting hosting national associations for an eight team event; · two facilities are required for the operation of an eight team event; · crossover playoff games are difficult to arrange and tickets are difficult to sell by organisers when the

teams are not known to the public; · the expense of local transportation of the participants and accommodation arrangements for all teams in two sites; · greater recruitment of volunteer and staffing difficulties for two sites; · poor attendance and little interest shown by the public without the host nation involved in the group. From the sport perspective, the proposed structure maintains the eight team top pool and relegates only one team from the IIHF World Women's Championship, while in the divisions, one team would be promoted to the higher level and one team would relegate to the lower division. The teams would also be ranked verti-

Coach Cunniff passed away at 57 Longtime international ice hockey coach John Cunniff passed away on May 9, 2002 at Albany (N.Y.) Memorial Hospital near his home following an extended battle with cancer. A South Boston native, he was 57. In February, Cunniff made his third appearance on the coaching staff of an U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team during the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. He helped guide Team USA to a silver medal as an assistant coach under Herb Brooks. In addition to being selected as an assistant coach for the 1998 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team in Nagano, Japan, he served as an associate coach during the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Cunniff’s extensive experience with USA Hockey includes serving as an assistant coach for the United States team that captured the championship in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. He was an assistant coach for four U.S. National Teams (1982, 1991, 1992 and 1993) at the IIHF World Championship, and was an assistant on two U.S. National Junior Teams (1992 and 1993) at the IIHF World U20 Championship. He was also named an assistant coach for Team USA in the 1981 Canada Cup tournament. As a player in international competition, Cunniff was a member of the 1967 U.S. Men's National Team and the 1968 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team in Grenoble, France.

cally to maintain a closer competitive level amongst the competing teams at this developing level. During the 2000/2001 season, the IIHF had instant success when the six team divisional format was introduced in the men's category. A number of national associations bid to host the championships due to a reduced number of teams, which resulted in use of a single facility, and a locked game schedule of 15 games operated in a single round robin format. The reduced size and convenience of the event also make the recruitment of volunteer staffing much easier. Based on this success and the simplicity of the system, the proposed change approved by the Congress to begin in the 2002/2003 season.

Continued from stats page 11 IIHF World Championship Playoff Round Finland - USA Sweden - Germany Czech Republic - Russia Canada - Slovakia Russia - Finland Slovakia - Sweden Finland - Sweden Slovakia - Russia

3 - 1 (0-0, 2-0, 1-1) Quarter-Final 1 6 - 2 (1-2, 2-0, 3-0) Quarter-Final 2 1 - 3 (0-1, 1-1, 0-1) Quarter-Final 3 2 - 3 (1-0, 1-1, 0-2) Quarter-Final 4 3 - 2 (1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0) Semi-Final 1 3 - 2 (0-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0, 1-0) Semi-Final 2 3 - 5 (2-0, 1-3, 0-2) Bronze Medal Game 4 - 3 (2-0, 1-1, 1-2) Gold Medal Game

Final Ranking 1 Slovakia, 2 Russia, 3 Sweden, 4 Finland, 5 Czech Republic, 6 Canada, 7 USA, 8 Germany, 9 Ukraine, 10 Switzerland, 11 Latvia, 12 Austria, 13 Slovenia, 14 Poland, 15 Italy, 16 Japan. ■ Poland and Italy relegated to IIHF World Championship Division I. ■ Japan relegated to IIHF World Championship Far East Qualification. Tournament Directorate Top Awards: Best Goaltender: Maxim Sokolov, Russia. Top Defenseman: Daniel Tjarnqvist, Sweden. Top Forward: Niklas Hagman, Finland. MVP: Miroslav Satan, Slovakia.

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June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF CALENDAR OF EVENTS IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2003 FINLAND, Helsinki, Tampere & Turku 2004 CZECH REPUBLIC, Prague & Ostrava 2005 AUSTRIA, Vienna & Innsbruck 2006 LATVIA 2007 APPLICANTS: CAN, SWE 2008 APPLICANTS: SUI IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, Group A 2003 HUNGARY, Budapest IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, Group B 2003 CROATIA, Zagreb

26.04 - 11.05.03 24.04 - 09.05.04 TBA TBA

IIHF WORLD U18 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION III, Group B 2003 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, Sarajevo

08-14.02.03

15-22.04.03 IIHF IN-LINE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2002 GERMANY, Nuremberg & Pfaffenhofen

20-28.07.02

2002/2003 IIHF CONTINENTAL CUP

TBA

13-20.04.03

05-12.04.03

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II, Group B 2003 BULGARIA, Sofia

24-31.03.03

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II QUALIFICATION 2003 NEW ZEALAND, Auckland 1st week April IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - FAR EAST QUALIFICATION 2003 JAPAN, Aomori 01-08.02.03

IIHF WORLD WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I 2003 LATVIA, Riga

01-07.03.03

OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES 2006 ITALY, Torino TBA 2010 APPLICANTS: AND, AUT, BIH, CAN, CHN, ESP, KOR, SUI

IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II, Group A 2003 KOREA, Seoul

IIHF WORLD WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2003 CHINA, Beijing 2004 Canada, Halifax 2005 APPLICANTS: SWE

IIHF WORLD U18 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION III, Group A 2003 MEXICO, Mexico City

03-09.04.03 22-28.03.04

NATIONAL TEAM BREAKS 1st Weekend of September 2nd Weekend of November 3rd Weekend of December 2nd Weekend of February

26.08.-01.09.02 04-10.11.02 09-15.12.02 03-09.02.03

IIHF OLDTIMERS WORLD CUP 2003 SLOVAKIA 2004 POLAND, Krynica

TBA TBA

WINTER UNIVERSIADE 2003 ITALY, Tarvisio 2005 AUSTRIA, Innsbruck & Seefeld

16-26.01.03 12-22.01.05

ASIAN WINTER GAMES 2003 JAPAN, Aomori

01-08.02.03

10-16.03.03 IIHF CONGRESSES

IIHF WORLD WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II 2003 APPLICANTS: GBR IIHF WORLD WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION III 2003 SLOVENIA, Maribor

25-31.03.03

IIHF WORLD WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION III QUALIFICATION 2003 APPLICANTS: TBA IIHF WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIP 2003 CANADA, Halifax & Sydney 2004 FINLAND, Helsinki, Espoo & Vanta 2005 APPLICANTS: USA 2006 APPLICANTS: SUI 2007 APPLICANTS: SWE IIHF WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, Group A 2003 KAZAKSTAN, Almaty IIHF WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, Group B 2003 SLOVENIA, Bled IIHF WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II, Group A 2003 ROMANIA, Mericera Cuic

26.12.02-05.01.03 25.12.03-04.01.04

ANNUAL CONGRESS 2004 CZECH REPUBLIC

TBA

ANNUAL & GENERAL CONGRESS 2003 SPAIN, Marbella

01-08.06.03

IIHF SPORT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

GAME OFFICIAL'S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

17-23.12.02

05-12.01.03

IIHF WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION III 2003 TURKEY, Ankara or Ismit

2nd week of January

10-20.04.03

IIHF Referee Supervisors Seminar: AUSTRIA, Vienna New Rules Seminars: AUSTRIA, Vienna JAPAN, Karuizawa Asia Oceania Instructors Seminar: JAPAN, Karuizawa

14-16.06.02 20-26.07.02 20-26.07.02

LEARN TO PLAY PROGRAM National Association Learn to Play Instructors Seminar AUSTRIA, Vienna National Association Learn to Play Administrators Seminar AUSTRIA, Vienna Asia Oceania Learn to Play Instructors Seminar: JAPAN, Karuizawa Asia Oceania Learn to Play Administrators Seminar: JAPAN, Karuizawa

15-16.06.02 15-16.06.02 20-26.07.02 20-26.07.02

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

22-28.03.03

IIHF WORLD U18 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II, Group A 2003 ESTONIA, TBA

17-23.03.03

2002 IIHF Asia Oceania Regional Hockey Development Camp: JAPAN, Karuizawa Ice Hockey 2000, Under 17 Development Camps: Ice Hockey 2000, Under 16 Development Camps: 2003 IIHF Hockey Development Camp All dates to be approved.

10

13-14.06.02

22-28.03.03

IIHF WORLD U18 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, Group B 2003 FRANCE, Briançon

IIHF WORLD U18 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II, Group B 2003 YUGOSLAVIA, Belgrade

20-26.07.02 01-04.05.03

27.12.02-2.1.03

05-12.01.03

IIHF WORLD U18 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION I, Group A 2003 LATVIA, Riga

12-14.09.02

COACH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Asia Oceania Instructors Seminar: JPN, Karuizawa IIHF International Coaching Symposium: FINLAND

IIHF WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION II, Group B 2003 YUGOSLAVIA, Novi Sad

IIHF WORLD U18 CHAMPIONSHIP 2003 RUSSIA, Yaroslavl 2004 APPLICANTS: BLR 2005 APPLICANTS: CZE 2006 APPLICANTS: SWE

SEMI-ANNUAL CONGRESS 2002 ITALY, Sicily

05-11.03.03

20-26.07.02 TBA TBA TBA

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS 2002 IIHF World Championship Div I, Group A Eindhoven, NETHERLANDS, 14.04. - 20.04.2002 Netherlands - Kazakstan Korea - Belarus Croatia - France Kazakstan - Korea Belarus - Croatia France - Netherlands Korea - Croatia France - Kazakstan Belarus - Netherlands France - Korea Kazakstan - Belarus Croatia - Netherlands Netherlands - Korea Kazakstan - Croatia Belarus - France Standings 1 Belarus 2 France 3 Kazakstan 4 Netherlands 5 Croatia 6 Korea

5 5 5 5 5 5

5 4 3 2 1 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 2 3 4 5

2-4 1 - 12 1-6 10 - 0 9-0 4-2 1-3 6-0 15 - 4 10 - 0 4-6 2-4 7-5 12 - 0 3-1

(0-2, 1-1, 1-1) (0-5, 1-3, 0-4) (1-2, 0-1, 0-3) (3-0, 3-0, 4-0) (3-0, 5-0, 1-0) (0-0, 1-0, 3-2) (1-1, 0-1, 0-1) (2-0, 1-0, 3-0) (7-0, 5-1, 3-3) (4-0, 4-0, 2-0) (2-2, 2-2, 0-2) (0-0, 1-2, 1-2) (1-2, 4-2, 2-1) (2-0, 4-0, 6-0) (0-1, 2-0, 1-0)

45 : 10 27 : 6 30 : 14 19 : 30 6 : 32 7 : 42

10 8 6 4 2 0

■ Belarus promoted to 2003 IIHF World Championship ■ Korea relegated to 2003 IIHF World Championship Div II

2002 IIHF World Championship Div I, Group B Szekesfehervar, Dunaujvaros, HUNGARY, 14.04. - 20.04.2002 Romania - Norway Great Britain - Denmark Hungary - China Denmark - Romania Norway - China Great Britain - Hungary China - Denmark Romania - Great Britain Hungary - Norway China - Great Britain Norway - Denmark Romania - Hungary Norway - Great Britain China - Romania Denmark - Hungary Standings 1 Denmark 2 Hungary 3 Norway 4 Great Britain 5 Romania 6 China

5 5 5 5 5 5

5 4 3 2 1 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

1-8 3-5 6-0 12 - 2 12 - 2 1-4 0 - 13 2-5 3-1 3-8 3-4 1-4 2-1 2-4 6-2

0 1 2 3 4 5

(0-5, 1-1, 0-2) (1-0, 2-3, 0-2) (1-0, 3-0, 2-0) (6-1, 3-0, 3-1) (3-0, 5-2, 4-0) (1-2, 0-0, 0-2) (0-5, 0-5, 0-3) (1-1, 0-1, 1-3) (2-1, 1-0, 0-0) (0-2, 2-3, 1-3) (0-1, 2-1, 1-2) (1-1, 0-1, 0-2) (0-0, 1-1, 1-0) (1-3, 1-0, 0-1) (2-0, 3-1, 1-1)

40 : 10 19 : 9 26 : 11 18 : 16 10 : 31 7 : 43

10 8 6 4 2 0

■ Denmark promoted to 2003 IIHF World Championship ■ China relegated to 2003 IIHF World Championship Div II

2002 IIHF World U18 Championship Trnava, Piestany, SLOVAKIA, 11.04. - 21.04.2002 Group A Norway - Germany Slovakia - Czech Republic Canada - Russia Czech Republic - Norway Russia - Slovakia Germany - Canada Czech Rep. - Germany Canada - Slovakia Russia - Norway Czech Republic - Canada Slovakia - Norway Germany - Russia Norway - Canada Russia - Czech Republic Germany - Slovakia

2-2 1-5 4-8 7-4 6-1 1-9 6-1 3-1 7-0 4-1 3-4 2-8 3-4 5-3 1-4

Standings Group A 1 Russia 5 2 Czech Republic 5 3 Canada 5 4 Norway 5 5 Slovakia 5 6 Germany 5

0 1 2 3 4 4

5 4 3 1 1 0

0 0 0 1 0 1

(0-1, 2-1, 0-0) ( 0-2, 0-2, 1-1 ) (3-2, 1-2, 0-4) (2-1, 2-2, 3-1) (2-0, 2-1, 2-0) (0-2, 1-3, 0-4) (4-0, 2-1, 0-0) (2-0, 1-1, 0-0) (1-0, 2-0, 4-0) (0-1, 1-0, 3-0) (2-2, 0-0, 1-2) (2-2, 0-3, 0-3) (2-2, 0-0, 1-2) (1-2, 3-0, 1-1) (1-2, 0-1, 0-1)

34 : 10 25 : 12 21 : 17 13 : 23 10 : 19 7 : 29

10 8 6 3 2 1

Group B Belarus - USA Sweden - Finland Ukraine - Switzerland Finland - Belarus Switzerland - Sweden USA - Ukraine Ukraine - Sweden Switzerland - Belarus Finland - USA Sweden - Belarus Finland - Ukraine USA - Switzerland Belarus - Ukraine USA - Sweden Switzerland - Finland

0-9 0-2 0 - 10 4-3 3-2 10 - 0 3-8 3-6 2-3 4-2 6-0 5-1 3-1 6-2 1-8

Standings Group B 1 USA 5 5 2 Finland 5 4 3 Belarus 5 2 4 Sweden 5 2 5 Switzerland 5 2 6 Ukraine 5 0

0 1 3 3 3 5

33 : 5 22 : 7 14 : 21 16 : 16 18 : 21 4 : 37

10 8 4 4 4 0

Final Round Czech Republic - Belarus USA - Canada Russia - Finland Finland - Canada USA - Czech Republic Belarus - Russia Czech Republic - Finland Canada - Belarus Russia - USA

5-1 10 - 3 4-3 3-1 0-1 0 - 11 4-2 3-5 1-3

(1-0, 2-1, 2-0) (2-1, 5-2, 3-0) (2-2, 1-1, 1-0) (0-1, 1-0, 2-0) (0-0, 0-1, 0-0) (0-2, 0-7, 0-2) (1-0, 1-1, 2-1) (1-3, 2-0, 0-2) (0-2, 0-0, 1-1)

Final Standings 1 USA 2 Russia 3 Czech Republic 4 Finland 5 Belarus 6 Canada

1 1 1 3 4 5

5 5 5 5 5 5

0 0 0 0 0 0

4 4 4 2 1 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

Group C Russia - Slovenia Austria - Sweden Russia - Austria Sweden - Slovenia Slovenia - Austria Sweden - Russia

(0-2, 0-1, 0-6) (0-0, 0-1, 0-1) (0-4, 0-2, 0-4) (1-0, 1-1, 2-2) (2-1, 0-1, 1-0) (2-0, 3-0, 5-0) (1-3, 2-3, 0-2) (1-1, 1-1, 1-4) (1-1, 0-0, 1-2) (1-1, 1-0, 2-1) (0-0, 3-0, 3-0) (2-1, 2-0, 1-0) (2-1, 1-0, 0-0) (1-0, 1-1, 4-1) (1-3, 0-2, 0-3)

25 : 7 29 : 13 17 : 9 14 : 15 9 : 32 12 : 30

Standings 1 Sweden 2 Russia 3 Austria 4 Slovenia

Standings 1 Canada 2 USA 3 Latvia 4 Italy

8 8 8 4 2 0

2002 IIHF World Championship Gothenburg; Karlstad, Jonkoping SWEDEN, 26.04.- 11.05.2002

Standings 1 Czech Republic 2 Germany 3 Switzerland 4 Japan

3 2 1 0

3 3 3 3

Group B Slovakia - Poland Ukraine - Finland Slovakia - Ukraine Finland - Poland Finland - Slovakia Poland - Ukraine Standings 1 Finland 2 Slovakia 3 Ukraine 4 Poland

0 0 0 0

7-0 0-3 5-4 8-0 3-1 0-3

3 3 3 3

3 2 1 0

0 0 0 0

17 : 8 17 : 9 5:9 6 : 19

0 1 2 3

14 : 1 13 : 7 7:8 0 : 18

6 4 2 0

0 0 0 0

0 1 2 3

2-5 4-1 5-0 3-2 4-1 1-2

3 3 3 3

3 2 1 0

0 0 0 0

0 1 2 3

5 5 5 5 5 5

5 4 2 2 1 0

Group F Finland - Austria Sweden - Slovakia Russia - Ukraine Slovakia - Austria Ukraine - Sweden Finland - Russia Sweden - Finland Austria - Ukraine Russia - Slovakia

0 0 1 1 0 0

0 1 2 2 4 5

3-1 1-2 3-3 6-3 0-7 1-0 4-2 2-3 4-6 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 1 1 0

0 0 0 1 1 0

1 1 1 3 3 5

Relegation Round Group G Slovenia - Japan 4-3 Poland - Italy 5-1 Poland - Slovenia 2-4 Japan - Italy 2-6 Italy - Slovenia 0-4 Japan - Poland 2-5

6 4 2 0

(2-0, 1-0, 4-0) (0-1, 0-1, 0-1) (2-1, 2-2, 1-1) (3-0, 2-0, 3-0) (2-0, 1-0, 0-1) (0-1, 0-0, 0-2)

1 Czech Republic 2 Canada 3 USA 4 Germany 5 Switzerland 6 Latvia

1 Sweden 2 Finland 3 Slovakia 4 Russia 5 Ukraine 6 Austria

(2-0, 5-2, 2-0) (0-1, 0-3, 0-1) (1-0, 1-0, 1-0) (0-1, 3-1, 2-1) (1-1, 0-4, 0-0) (2-1, 2-2, 3-2)

0 1 2 3

3 2 1 0

Qualification Round Group E USA - Switzerland 3-0 Canada - Germany 3-1 Czech Republic - Latvia 3 - 1 Switzerland - Canada 2 - 3 Germany - Latvia 3-2 Czech Republic - USA 5 - 4 USA - Germany 2-2 Canada - Czech R 1-5 Latvia - Switzerland 4-6

■ Due to a restructured playing format of future IIHF World U18 Championships, Germany, Norway and Ukraine relegated to 2003 IIHF World U18 Championship Div I, which will consist of 12 teams in two groups.

9-2 0-5 3-0 5-3 1-5 7-5

3 3 3 3

Group D Italy - USA Canada - Latvia Canada - Italy USA - Latvia Latvia - Italy USA - Canada

Russia’s Alexander Ovechkin had 14 goals in 7 games Final Ranking at U18 Worlds. 1 USA, 2 Russia, 3 Czech Republic, 4 Finland, 5 Belarus, 6 Canada, 7 Switzerland, 8 Slovakia, 9 Sweden, 10 Germany, 11 Norway, 12 Ukraine.

Group A Germany - Japan Switzerland - Czech R Germany - Switzerland Czech Republic - Japan Japan - Switzerland Czech R - Germany

8-1 3-5 6-3 8-2 3-5 2-0

1 Slovenia 2 Poland 3 Italy 4 Japan

3 3 3 3

3 2 1 0

0 0 0 0

0 1 2 3

(3-0, 2-1, 3-0) (1-3, 0-1, 2-1) (3-0, 3-2, 0-1) (1-1, 4-0, 3-1) (2-1, 1-0, 0-4) (1-0, 0-0, 1-0)

15 : 5 14 : 6 11 : 14 6 : 21

6 4 2 0

(0-2, 0-1, 2-2) (1-1, 1-0, 2-0) (0-0, 3-0, 2-0) (3-0, 0-1, 0-1) (2-0, 2-1, 0-0) (1-0, 0-0, 0-2)

11 : 2 9:6 7:8 3 : 14

6 4 2 0

(2-0, 1-0, 0-0) (1-1, 1-0, 1-0) (2-0, 0-0, 1-1) (0-0, 1-0, 1-3) (1-1, 0-1, 2-0) (3-1, 1-3, 1-0) (1-0, 0-1, 1-1) (0-2, 0-0, 1-3) (0-0, 1-3, 3-3) 25 : 11 13 : 10 13 : 11 14 : 14 8 : 18 10 : 19

10 8 5 5 2 0

(1-0, 0-0, 2-1) (1-0, 0-0, 0-2) (0-2, 2-1, 1-0) (3-0, 0-2, 3-1) (0-2, 0-2, 0-3) (1-0, 0-0, 0-0) (1-1, 0-1, 3-0) (1-0, 1-1, 0-2) (0-3, 3-2, 1-1) 19 : 7 12 : 6 20 : 15 13 : 15 10 : 20 12 : 23

8 8 8 3 3 0

(3-0, 1-3, 0-0) (1-0, 3-0, 1-1) (0-0, 0-1, 2-3) (1-0, 1-4, 0-2) (0-2, 0-2, 0-0) (0-1, 1-3, 1-1) 12 : 5 12 : 7 7 : 11 7 : 15

6 4 2 0

Maxim Sokolov can’t stop Peter Bondra’s tournament winner at 18.20 of third period. Puck is far right in the mesh. Sokolov got consolation by being named Best Goaltender of championship.

Stats continued on page 9

11

June 2002 - Vol. 6 - No 3 IIHF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL

Filc feels fine - Salt Lake is forgotten World champion coach steps down to try and make Slovak hockey even better By Szymon Szemberg, IIHF

Many federations in all of sports have made the mistake of resting on their laurels after big victories and not really making the most of it in terms of recruiting new players, and generally surfing on the success. How will the Slovak hockey seize this great opportunity?

Those of us who were present in the media interview room at the E Center in Salt Lake City on February 10, 2002 will not forget the scene. Slovakia had just squandered a 6-3 lead against Latvia only to get away with a 6-6 tie, which meant that the Slovaks, just like in Nagano in 1998, had missed the final round of the Olympic tournament. Coach Jan Filc was sitting at the podium answering questions. He looked very sad, but composed, and with his head high. "I am sure that upon returning home I will be released of my duties as head coach of the Slovak national team", he said the media. "A failure like this will not be tolerated back home." But the people within the Slovak Ice Hockey Association understood that coach Filc could hardly be blamed for the misfortunes at the Olympics. And, of course, they kept him on. Three months and one day later Jan Filc hoisted the world championship trophy in Gothenburg's Scandinavium Photo: JUKKA RAUTIO arena. What a wonderful revenMISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Jan Filc cherishes this priceless moment on the Scandinavium ice ge for one of the nicest hockey in Gothenburg on May 11, 2002. Now he goes on to make Slovak hockey even better. people around. Olympics, all of them promised to be back for "Yes, thanks to the people at the Slovak federathe World Championship if they were healthy tion I was able to keep the job", says Filc when and available, and they supported our idea to interviewed by the IIHF News Release a couple have a solid performance in of weeks after the 4-3 final Sweden. I feel really proud win against Russia. "I guess to be part of that and very that everyone understood proud that I coached those “Slovakia must that we made our best effplayers to this victory." orts but we were not able always be among to bring the Olympic team "The celebrations were the top seven together in a couple of unforgettable. First the open hours. hockey countries in cortege through the streets of Gothenburg directly after With some weeks' perthe world and we the game, and the ovation spective following the must always stay from the Swedish people, victory in Sweden, could that was very unexpected. you tell us about your competitive in We more or less knew what feelings and the celebrato expect back home, but championships” tions which followed. still, five thousand people waiting for us at the airport "It's not easy to describe all and another fifty thousand the emotions. It felt like a at the main square in Bratislava… that was once-in-a-lifetime experience. We got a great overwhelming." response from the players right after the

12

"We know that we must bring about many changes in our hockey in order to stay successful. And this is one reason why I have decided to step down as national team coach and instead be part of the leadership of the new development program in Slovak hockey. Hopefully we will adopt a new structure at our annual meetings, a structure which hopefully will provoke changes in our sport. This is a golden opportunity to bring the sport back to the youth and use the impact of the championship win to raise the quality of our clubs." "The goal is to stabilize and secure the quality of our hokkey so we can always be among the top seven countries in the world and always be competitive in all championships."

The general feeling about Slovak hockey is that your country has great forwards, average defenseman and less than average goaltending. Do you think the gold medal will change this misconception, or is it still true to some extent? "Of course, we hope that this win has changed that a bit. We are very well aware that the forwards are our strength. But we are happy how our young goalies, like Lasak, Stana and others, have developed in the North American system and also our defenseman are improving a lot. I am very happy that we managed to bring a good mix of all three positions to Sweden." Jan Lasak certainly looked like a world-class goalie in the World Championships. Was he overachieving or is he for real? "Lasak was perfect when we needed him the most, but he is still young and he needs to learn more and to be more consistent. But he is on track to become a world-class goalie.